Latest ObamaCare job losses

Latest ObamaCare job losses

President Barack Obama bristles at suggestions that ObamaCare's costs and regulations will destroy jobs. He recently told supporters of the law that concerns about job losses have been proved untrue.

That is an odd claim to make, since many of its biggest provisions have not been enacted yet.

But even in its early stages, Obama-Care's job-killing potential is already being realized.

Abbott Laboratories, which makes drugs and medical devices, recently said it plans to eliminate nearly 2,000 manufacturing and marketing jobs.

In the words of The Associated Press, "Abbott blamed the cuts on new fees and pricing pressures associated with the health reform law and a 'challenging regulatory environment' at the Food and Drug Administration."

Specifically, ObamaCare forced Abbott to shell out $200 million last year in higher Medicaid rebates.

"That will continue in 2011 and the company expects to pay an additional $200 million for the drugmaker-tax and discounts the law requires for patients on Medicare," Bloomberg News noted.

In other words, the company may only be beginning its ObamaCare-related job cuts.

Abbott isn't alone, either. Medtronic, a maker of medical devices, predicted it will cut 1,000 jobs to cover a new ObamaCare tax on medical devices. And soon after ObamaCare was signed into law, major companies such as AT&T, John Deere and Caterpillar noted the hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs the law would impose on them. Who can doubt that those costs will force the companies to lay off employees, or that at a minimum they will be unable to hire new workers?

It is highly questionable whether ObamaCare will improve medical care for most Americans. But sadly, it has already been demonstrated that it will kill jobs. That is the last thing the United States needs in a time of high unemployment.